-Paul here begins to unpack the ‘everything’ which we must do in order to be fully prepared for the battle we face, to be able to stand firm and withstand the methods of Diabolos.
-Now, understanding the need to suit up and prepare for battle, the first thing we will have done is to gird about our loins, in this case with truth. The typical garb worn by a man in that place and time was a tunic, slung over the shoulders and hanging down around one’s feet. Think of it as sort of like a dress. Except for men. A manly man-dress. It was no doubt quite comfortable, but not at all designed for the kind of manuevers asked of a soldier in battle. So the length and folds of the tunic would be gathered up around the loins and tied together at the waist - one was thus ‘girded about’ - like a girdle. This was the all-important first step - any subsequent ability to move about and actually wield the rest of the armor in battle depended on girding up your loins.
-And so our spiritual loins must be girded about in truth. All the various folds and fabric of our lives, right down to the core of who we are, our bowels themselves, must be wrapped up and around with truth, the truth of (and about) God, Who is the God of truth. Remember, the enemy we face is a liar, a liar from the beginning, the father of lies, and there is no truth in him (cf John 8.44). He is in fact the total antithesis of truth. Thus we can be sure that every attack, every scheme will likely hinge on some aspect of (falsified) truth. He twists it, distorts it, denies it, perverts it, contradicts it. Truth is, truth is the staging point for the entire battle. It is the fundamental truth about God which wicked men suppress and reject and disobey, to their doom (Romans 1.18, 1.25, 2.8). It is God’s truth which the serpent twisted in the garden and which he along with his willing or unwitting minions have been opposing ever since. They oppose and ultimately reject the truth because they are opposing God Himself. Truth and God are essestially synonymous because God is truth. Just as God is love and He is synonymous with love. All truth - all that is true - is found in Him, and He has revealed truth in His Word, which is truth (John 17.17). The battle, the very preparation for it, begins here, with a complete immersion in truth, steeped in and focused on whatever and all that is true (Philippians 4.8) - seeing and hearing and speaking truth. It is the complement to the proverbial hear/see/speak no evil, only rather than simply creating a moral vacuum of sorts, we are to fill the void with truth, fill up our lives (and our world) with it. But wait - there’s more...!
-We must also have put on the breatplate of righteousness. That which covers our front and back and protects our vital organs, which is most vital to our ultimate survival, is a bullet-proof vest (or the ancient arrow-proof version of it), in this case an iron-clad standing of being declared right in God’s sight. That is righteousness - in God’s eyes I’ve done everything right. That’s right - all my sins, all my mistakes, all my shortcomings - all washed away and completely covered over by the blood of Christ. It really is a bullet-proof, arrow-proof, impenetrable barrier covering our upper core which repels all the slings and arrows and false accusations of our relentlessly slandering enemy. Not one of his charges will ever stick. Not one arrow will penetrate. We have an airtight alibi - we were (and are) with Jesus! We were (by faith) with Him on the Cross (Galatians 2.20, Romans 6.6), and we are now in Him forever. In Christ God has justified us (Romans 5.9, 8.33), declared us righteous, which means we are now right in His eyes. We have done everything right. No more guilt. No more shame. When the enemy comes and tries to make us feel guilty for something we did in the past, inadequate for some shortcoming we may be tempted to think we bring to the table today, fearful over some misstep we might make tomorrow - we can stand firm knowing that God no longer sees nor will He ever see us in this light. When He looks at us, all He sees is Jesus, His beloved Child, and so looking at us gives Him eternal great pleasure! In His eyes, I’ve done everything right! Tell yourself that every day. Every morning. Every time the enemy fires one at you. Tell yourself that right now, and repeat it often. Put on that breastplate of righteousness.
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